Fifa tackles bid team on Triesman gaffe

England’s badly holed 2018 World Cup bid suffered a fresh blow on Monday when Fifa demanded an explanation from the Football Association for the ill-judged bribery comments made by Lord Triesman, its former chairman, and said it would examine whether bidding rules were broken.

Lord Triesman quit on Sunday as chairman of both the FA and the England bid after his private remarks suggesting that rival bidders Spain and Russia might collude to bribe referees at the World Cup in South Africa were published by a national newspaper.

The England bid was hoping that Lord Triesman’s swift departure would enable it to limit the damage and get its campaign back on track. The bid team quickly distanced itself from the remarks, and Lord Coe, a member of the board, telephoned Sepp Blatter, Fifa’s president, to reinforce the point.

But the response of football’s governing body to the affair has been equally rapid. A statement from Fifa on Monday said that Jérôme Valcke, its secretary-general, had asked the governing body’s ethics committee to examine Lord Triesman’s allegations.

Fifa sets considerable store by its code of conduct for nations competing to host the World Cup, demanding they refrain from commenting on their rivals’ bids and insisting they accord with principles “such as integrity, responsibility, trustworthiness and fairness”.

More damaging for Fifa, however, is the taint of allegations, albeit unfounded, less than a month before the competition starts in South Africa.

Fifa has in the past had to fend off allegations that its process for electing host nations leaves the members who take the decision open to undue influence. Although England’s football hierarchy has never publicly aired those concerns, the 2018 bid team has in private emphasised that its campaign would be “clean”.

Fifa’s statement added: “In addition, Fifa has sent a letter to the Football Association asking the FA to provide a report on this matter, including Lord Triesman’s position.”

In a statement, the bid team said: “England 2018 welcomes the announcement today from Fifa which will deal with recent issues that have arisen. We will co-operate fully and believe England 2018 and the FA dealt with the matter swiftly and correctly.”

Fifa’s quick response is an indication of the task facing Geoff Thompson, installed on Sunday night as Lord Triesman’s successor as bid chairman. He finds himself with the unenviable task of flying to Zurich this week, hoping to persuade Mr Blatter that Lord Triesman’s views should be seen in isolation and are not shared by the England bid team.

Hugh Robertson, the UK government’s new sports minister, also sought to shore up the bid’s precarious position. “Whatever Lord Triesman may or may not have said, he did not attack Sepp Blatter personally, or the entire integrity of either Fifa or Uefa,” Mr Robertson told the BBC.

Of the substance of Lord Triesman’s claims, he added: “Nothing I have heard at any stage in the process, either in opposition or in government, suggests there is any truth in these allegations whatsoever.”

The FA has sent letters of apology to the Spanish and Russian football associations, which have condemned Lord Triesman’s comments but are calling on Fifa to take action..

Lord Coe, who led the London Olympics bid, said: “This has been a traumatic 48 hours but this does not become a bad bid overnight.’’ England had the best venues, the most passionate fans, the best market for sponsors and could stage a safe and secure World Cup, he said.